Prairie cordgrass, Spartina pectinata, is a common species of cordgrass found in the North American tall grass prairie. This species is well adapted to land that becomes seasonally saturated with water or has high concentrations of salts. These characteristics give this species the ability to grow in areas where other plant species cannot survive.
Recently, prairie cordgrass has been recognized as a dedicated energy crop for sustainable feedstock production on marginal lands and an excellent plant species for riparian revegetation and stream bank stabilization. Currently, only one germplasm, ‘Red River’, is commercially available for seed production and use. However, this germplasm is not well adapted to the lower Midwest, especially south of 43° N, since ‘Red River’ originated north of 45° N. Outside of this geographic range, the current cordgrass cultivar ‘Red River’ does not grow optimally, and in particular, does not meet its full biomass yield potential.
Thus, there is a need for novel cultivars of prairie cordgrass capable of growth in a broader geographic region than current commercially available cultivars and that have a higher biomass yield potential than presently available commercial prairie cordgrass cultivars.